On November 1, GMA General Counsel Susan Moore recorded for Georgia city officials an overview of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The overview is divided into the three segments (about 10 minutes each) below to allow city officials the opportunity to consume the information in shorter increments. You may download the presentation here.

Please note that none of the information contained in the videos below should be construed as legal advice.

The first video provides insight into the distinction between an employee and an independent contractor, an overview of the minimum wage and a discussion of overtime as it relates to the FLSA.

The second video covers exemptions from overtime and special rules for law enforcement and firefighters.

The third video covers compensatory time, record keeping and penalties for violation.

The following write-up was provided by the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA).

On May 18th, the Department of Labor announced the long-awaited provisions of the new overtime rule. The new rule will go into effect on December 1, 2016 and focuses primarily on updating the salary / compensation levels. It does not change any of the duties tests for the exemptions to the overtime provisions at this time.

The key provisions of the final rule are as follows:

The minimum salary level for exempt employees will increase from $455/week ($23,660/year) to $913/week ($47,476/year);

The minimum salary threshold for "highly compensated employees" will increase from $100,000 annually to $134,004 annually; and

The final rule establishes a mechanism for automatically updating the salary levels for exempt employees every three years (beginning on January 1, 2020) to maintain the compensation levels at the 40th percentile for administrative, executive and professional exempt employees and the 90th percentile for highly compensated employees.

Additionally, the final rule amends the salary basis test to allow employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the new standard salary level.

The DOL hosted a series of informational webinars about the final rule, including one specifically geared toward state and local governments. To view any of these archived DOL webinars, click on the links in the Resource box above.

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